PORTLAND, Maine--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MedRhythms, a Portland, Maine-based digital therapeutics company that is using sensors, artificial intelligence, and music to develop products that help people with neurologic injuries and diseases recover walking functions, raised an oversubscribed Series A Financing.
The company intended to raise $4MM, but, due to substantial interest, MedRhythms raised the round to $5.3MM in Series A stock. As of this announcement, the company has successfully closed on $5.0MM of the equity financing. Leading the round is Peter J. Werth of Werth Family Investment Associates and participating in the financing are successful investors, executives, and CEO, including a significant follow-on investment from Jean Hoffman, founder and former CEO of Putney Inc.
This investment will allow MedRhythms to develop and launch a patent-pending digital therapeutics platform that focuses on building evidence-based, FDA-approved, prescription products for people with neurologic injuries and diseases to improve and measure walking. While the first product on the platform focuses on the post-stroke population, the pipeline includes products for Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Aging-In-Place, and Traumatic Brain Injury. Immediately following the investment, MedRhythms intends to hire software, product, and commercial professionals for the Portland, ME office.
“Developing digital therapeutics based on music requires the right mix of talent on the team, including experts in music, biotech, healthcare and technology,” said Brian Harris, CEO and Co-Founder. “We are thrilled to have Peter Werth lead this financing round, as his track record of success building and investing in healthcare businesses is the right balance of expertise that will allow us to achieve MedRhythms’ mission and vision of making a high-quality clinical impact in the lives of millions of people.”
The MedRhythms platform is based on the neuroscience and clinical research indicating that music improves functional outcomes in neurologic rehabilitation by globally engaging the brain. Specifically, rhythm can engage the auditory system, generating motor responses and aiding in structural changes in the brain through neuroplasticity.
In synchrony with the financing, MedRhythms expands its board of directors from 3 to 5 members. Peter Werth will join the board as lead investor, bringing deep expertise in entrepreneurship, healthcare, and strategy. Also joining the board is Ray Pawlicki, former Chief Information Officer for Biogen and Novartis and current board member for Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare, UMass Memorial, and RockStep Solutions. Jean Hoffman, CEO and Founder of Putney Inc, will remain on the board, while Bill McKee, former CFO of Barr Pharmaceuticals and Putney Inc, will join the board as an observer.
“We found MedRhythms’ strategy and business plan to build digital therapeutics for walking a compelling investment opportunity,” said Peter Werth, chairman and president of Chemwerth and leader of the Series A investment round. “MedRhythms has excellent growth prospects with a pipeline of therapeutic and diagnostic products in large, growing markets and is building the right team to execute.”
The company has big visions for the future. Harris said, “While we know that we need to stay focused and execute, we know that the people we serve do not only suffer from walking deficits; neurologic injuries and diseases affect movement, language, and cognition. It is our vision that we will ultimately serve as a solution to this entire range of impairments. To make this vision come to fruition, we will develop different algorithms as personalized therapeutics to address the many deficits caused by neurologic injuries and diseases. Additionally, the data gathered to deliver our therapeutic can be used to facilitate early detection of new diseases, measure the progression of existing conditions, and predict adverse events, all of which will allow us to fulfill our mission of impacting the lives of everyone affected by neurologic injury and disease.”
About MedRhythms
MedRhythms, a privately held company
headquartered in Portland, ME, is a digital therapeutics company that
uses sensors, music, and AI to build evidence-based, neurologic
interventions to measure and improve walking. The MedRhythms team has
extensive experience in rehabilitation techniques that use music. The
company began as a therapy services company that launched out of
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, which the US News & World Report
named the No. 4 rehabilitation hospital in the country. To learn more,
visit: www.medrhythms.com.
About Werth Family Investment Associates
Werth Family
Investment Associates is an investor for startup companies in
pharmaceutical, veterinary, and medical device fields. The group has
successfully helped develop a TrkA specific inhibitor for treating pain,
a first-line treatment for gastroparesis, a generic company specializing
in injectable products, and a pharmaceutical company specializing in
generic drugs for companion animals. They are presently funding
organizations that will drive significant medical advances.
